Edward cole



' B. COLE.

SHIP CLEANING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1900. RENEWED JULY 21, 1903- N0 manna.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEY PATENTED FEB. 16, 1904.

Patented February 16, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD COLE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHIP-CLEANING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 752,142, dated February16, 1904.

Application filed June 13, 1900. Renewed July 21, 1903. Serial No.166,497. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD Conn, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ship CleaningDevices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to shipcleaning devices, and moreparticularly to means utilized for the purpose of removing the marinegrowth which is constantly accumulating on the submerged portions ofvessels.

Various attempts have from time to time been made to produce a practicaldevice of the character described; but in all of these attempts theunderlying idea has been to clean the vessel by passing a scrapingdevice held under tension vertically up and down the hull of the ship tobe cleaned. This method has been found to be impractical for severalreasons, one obstacle residing in the fact that when it has beenattempted to operate the scraping means by other than manual labor ithas usually been found that the mechanism has not been adapted for suchpurpose, and accordingly it has been found necessary to use manual laboronly, with the result of not ob taining enough power to effect thecleaning. Still another difiiculty has been found in holding thescraping means with suflicient tension up against the side of thevessel, and, lastly, the means utilized to perform the actual scrapinghave been defective and unsuited for the work.

The object of my invention is to produce a device in which these defectsare obviated and which embodies not alone a practical scraping means,but also an eflicient mechanism for operating said scraping mechanism.

To this end my invention consists, broadly, in an adjustable scrapingmeans peculiarly constructed, in adjustable means for suspending andholding said scraping means under tension against the side of thevessel, and in means for continuously moving said scraping meanshorizontally or longitudinally along the vessel, so as to scrape thehull of same in horizontal sections, and, finally, in means foradjusting the scraping means vertically up and down.

It also consists in the combination of cooperative elements hereinafterdescribed.

While changes of course may be made without departingfrom the spirit ofmy invention or exceeding the scope of the claims, I have shown in theaccompanying drawings what I consider the best embodiment of myinvention.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side View of a vessel, showing myscraping'device in working position and showing also the auxiliary meansfor operating the scraping device. Fig. 2 is a view of the under side ofthe sraping device. Fig. 3 is a side view of same. Fig. Q is a detailview of the bulwark and the rail on which the guiding-wheels travel.Fig. 5 is a detail view of the pulleys located on the deck of the shipover which the guiding and operating ropes or cables pass. Figs. 6, 7,and 8 are detail views of the lower pulleys over which the guiding andoperating ropes pass.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in thediflerent views.

I shall describe a ship-cleaning device embodying my invention andafterward point out the novel features in the claims.

1 indicates the hull, and 2 is the scrapingdevice suspended by means ofthe graduated chain 3, attached to the hook 3, carried by theguiding-wheels 4 and l, adapted to travel longitudinally in the doublerail 5, which is fastened to the bulwark at intervals by suitable means,such as by clamps 6 and screws 7. This rail runs the entire length ofthe ship and conforms to the contour of the vessel. The scraping devicetravels horizontally or longitudinally on two horizontal cables or ropes8 and 9, which pass through the pulleys 10. The ropes 8 and 9 pass overthe pulleys l1 and 12 and are fastened with one end at 13 and 14, whileat the other end they pass over the pulleys l5 and 16 and from thence upto the deck, where they are made fast in any suitable manner and fromwhence they can be adjusted when the scraping device is lowered orraised, it being of course always necessary to keep these ropes orcables taut. The scraping device is caused to travel back and forthlongitudinally by means of the ropes 17 fastened to the eyelets 17 a oneither side of the scraper. These ropes pass over the pulleys 18 and upover the pulleys 19 on the deck of the vessel, from which they pass tothe drums of a donkey-engine, (not shown,) by means of which latter thescraper is pulled back and forth longitudinally along the hull of thevessel, traveling on the ropes 8 and 9,

which latter being located in the same vertical plane as the saidscraper also hold the scraper under tension against the side of thevessel, which function the graduated chain also assists in, the wheels 4and 4: traveling, of course, as the scraper is moved. When onelongitudinal section of the ship has been cleaned, it becomes necessaryto lower the device to the next section, and this is accomplished in thefollowing manner: Attached to the bow and the stern of the vessel aretwo detachable guide-holders 20. One of these two guide-holders is madeto clasp the bow with the two arms 20 and 20 which may either be madefast temporarily with screws or by means of the ropes 20*, as shown, andis further provided with a vertical guiding slot 20 and with a pulley20, located at its lower end. In this slot 20 slides averticallyadjustable guide 20, having attached the rope 20 which passesover the pulley 20 and up over the pulley 20*, which is operated by thehand-wheel 20, whereby the guide is caused to travel up or down,according to the motion imparted. The guide-holder on the stern of thevessel is constructed in substantially the same way, with the exceptionthat only the lower portion of the vessel is clasped by means of twoshort arms 20". The two guides 20 carry the pulleys described above, andby their adjustment and the adjustment of the chain 3 the scraper can beworked at different heights.

The scraping device is composed of a flat plate 21, having on one sidethe pulleys 10 and the eyelets 17 On the other side it is provided witha plurality of knives for the removal of the barnacles. Of these knivesthe two outer ones, 22, are placed at right angles to the line of traveland pivoted, as at 22, and held in position against the surface overwhich the scraper travels by means of one or more springs 22. Thesesprings are of a sufficient tension to enable the knives to cut thebarnacles and remove the same, but are adapted when the knives strike anoverlapping plate on the vessel to yield without injuring same and tolift the scraper over the projection. Besides these outer yieldingknives there are a plurality of fixed and radiallyplaced knives 23.These knives 23 are set at an obtuse angle to the line of travel of thescraper and have their lower edges 23 turned out: ward, one half of themin one direction and the other half in the other direction, so that th;device will scrape when pulled to either s1 e.

The scraper 2 may be made of the same width as the width of the plate ofthe ship, so that one plate will be scraped and, cleaned its entirelength with each manipulation of the scraper, "and to this end the chain3 may be graduated to lower it just a suflicient distance each time.

It is of course obvious that two scraping devices may be employed andtwo operating mechanisms utilized, one on each side of the ship; but asits'construction would be identical with the one just noted there is nonecessity for repeating the description.

From the above it will appear that by my construction an eflicient,practical, and easilyadjustable cleaning mechanism has been produced.

- What I consequently claim as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

1. In a ship-cleaning device, the combination of a scraping mechanism, avertically-adjustable and longitudinally extending suspending meansadapted to remain stationary while the scraping mechanism travels overthe same, and an adjustable, vertical suspending means adapted to travellongitudinally with the scraping mechanism, substantially as described.

2. In a ship-cleaning device, the combination of a scraping mechanism,avertically-adjustable and longitudinally extending suspending meansadapted to remain stationary while the scraping mechanism travels overthe same, an adjustable, vertical suspending means adapted to .travellongitudinally with the scraping mechanism, and means for effecting aback-and-forth movement of the scraping mechanism, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a ship-cleaning mechanism, the combination of a rail adapted to besuspended from the bulwark and provided with bearing portions ofdifferent heights, with a plurality of guiding-wheels of a number equalto the number of different bearing portions of the rail, andcorresponding in size to said bearing portions and adapted to travelfreely over same, substantially as described.

4. In a ship-cleaning device, the combination of a scraping mechanism ofthe character set forth, with a vertically-suspending means adapted totravel longitudinally with the scraper, a plurality of horizontalguiding ropes or cables over which the scraping mechanism is adapted totravel, and means for effecting such movement, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a ship-cleaning device, the combination of a scraping mechanism ofthe character set forth, with a graduated and vertically-adjustablesuspending means adapted to travel longitudinally with the scraper, aplurality of horizontal guiding ropes vertically adjustable, over whichthe scraping mechanism is adapted to travel, and means for effectingsuch movement, substantially as described.

6. 1n a ship-cleaning device, the combination of two detachableguide-supporters one each at the bow and stern of a vessel and adaptedto be fastened there in a suitable manner, a scraping device, alongitudinally-extending suspending means adapted normally to remainstationary and to form a support over which the scraper travels, meansfor causing the scraper to travel longitudinally over the suspendingmeans, and means vertically adjustable on the guide-supporters foradjusting the vertical position of the suspending means and of the meansfor operating the scraper, substantially as described.

7. In a ship cleaning device, a scraping mechanism comprising a plateadapted to travel longitudinally over the hull of the vessel, two outer,pivoted scraping-knives adapted to yield to an excessive pressure, and aplurality of radially disposed and fixed scrapingknives locatedintermediate between the outer yielding knives, the knives being soarranged that the scraper will perform its function when moved in eitherdirection, substantially as described.

8. In a ship -cleaning device, a scraping mechanism comprising a plateadapted to travel longitudinally over the hull of the vessel, two outer,oppositely-located and pivoted scraping-knives adapted to yield to anexcessive pressure, and a plurality of radially-disposed and fixedscraping-knives located intermediate between the outer yielding knives,the knives being so arranged that the scraper will perform its functionwhen moved in either direction, substantially as described.

9. In a ship-cleaning device, a scraping mechanism comprising a plateadapted to travel longitudinally over the hull of the vessel, two outer,oppositely-located and pivoted scraping-knives adapted to yield to anexcessive pressure and placed at right angles to the line of motion ofthe plate, and a plurality of radially-disposed and fixedscraping-knives located intermediate between the outer yielding knivesand placed at an obtuse angle to the line of travel of the plate, theknives being so arranged that the scraping mechanism will perform itsfunction when moved in either direction, substantially as described.

- 10. In a ship-cleaning device, a scraping mechanism comprising a plateadapted to travel longitudinally over the hull of the vessel, two outeroppositely-located andpivoted scraping-knives adapted to yield to anexcessive pressure and placed at right angles to the line of motion ofthe plate, and a plurality of radially-disposed and fixedscraping-knives located intermediate between the outer yielding knivesand placed at an obtuse angle to the line of travel of the plate, onehalf of said fixed knives having their outer edges turned in onedirection, while the other half have their outer edges turned in theopposite direction, whereby the scraping mechanism will perform itsfunction when moved in either direction, substantially as described.

11. In a ship-cleaning device, the combination with the hull of thevessel of a detachable guide-supporter, two arms extending from saidsupporter adapted to be attached to either the bow or the sternof thevessel and to fit snugly over the same, a vertical guiding-slot in saidsupporter, a guide adapted to slide in said slot, and means foreflecting the up-anddown movement of the guide, substantially asdescribed.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 12th day of June, A. D. 1900.

EDWARD COLE. W'itnesses:

AXEL V. BEEKEN, BELLE F. JAIs.

